The invention relates to a mobile sweeping machine with a rotationally driven rotary brush which is mounted in a housing, a dirt collection container which can be detachably connected to the housing and with a dirt inlet opening located adjacent to the rotary brush in the dirt collection container.
Sweeping machines of this type are known which can be moved manually by means of a shaft-type gripping element, for example, along a surface to be cleaned. In order to empty the dirt collection container filled with collected dirt particles, the housing can be snapped down so that emptying can be achieved through the then exposed opening of the dirt collection container. This requires a relatively complicated construction, which also makes handling difficult during emptying, since the entire sweeping machine must be transported to the emptying location.
It is the object of the invention to configure a sweeping machine of this type so as to facilitate emptying of the dirt collection container.
This object is achieved according to the invention with a mobile sweeping machine of the above-described type in that the dirt collection container is configured as a drawer, which can be laterally inserted into a guide of the housing and can be fixed in its inserted position relative to the housing. This drawer can be simply pulled laterally out of the housing for emptying and then carried to the emptying location, and by simply inserting and fixing it to the housing, the sweeping machine is ready for operation again.
It is advantageous if rollers, which fully support the sweeping machine, are disposed on the housing and on the dirt collection container, so that the sweeping machine is configured, on the one hand, by the housing and by the drawer, on the other.
In a preferred embodiment it is provided that the guide is disposed on a flat support part of the housing, which, running essentially parallel to the transport surface, extends from the working part of the housing accommodating the rotary brush and its drive.
In particular, the support part can essentially completely cover the drawer on its upper side.
It is advantageous if the guide is formed by strip-type projections extending into a groove.
In a particularly preferred embodiment it is provided that the groove and the strip-type projections are semicircular, this is particularly advantageous when the drawer and possibly the support part covering it are also correspondingly semicircular in order to obtain a pleasing form for the sweeping machine and also to ensure that even locations which are difficult to access can be well cleaned with this sweeping machine.
In particular with semicircular guides it is difficult to join the guide elements reliably, since these only engage shortly before the insertion process has ended.
In order to assist in this, it is particularly advantageous if a projection pointing in the direction of the housing is disposed on the drawer, said projection extending into a guide of the housing and thus guiding the drawer during insertion before the ledge-type projections enter the groove. As a result, the advantage to the user is that he does not need to take particular care to ensure that the strip-type guide elements also extend into the grooves during the insertion movement of the drawer.
It is particularly advantageous if the projection is formed by a half shell, which extends in the direction of insertion of the drawer and is inserted into a trough-shaped depression on the upper side of the housing. Such a half shell can have the form of a half pipe connection and extend into a correspondingly shaped trough-shaped depression.
In this case, the trough-shaped depression can have guide faces engaging over the upper edge of the half shell so that in the trough-shaped depression the half shell is also secured against swivelling around the longitudinal axis of the trough-shaped depression.
It is particularly advantageous in this case if the upper edge of the half shell has a section rising from the base of the half shell and a section adjoining this running parallel to the direction of insertion of the drawer. During insertion of the half shell into the trough-shaped depression the drawer is then automatically centred with respect to the housing, in particular the drawer is also rotated around a longitudinal axis running parallel to the direction of insertion into the position in which the strip-type projections can engage into the groove.
It can be provided in particular that the half shell is open on the front side at its end remote from the housing, the half shell thus forming a grip opening into which the user can grasp in order to operate the drawer.
It is advantageous if the trough-shaped depression merges into a receiving depression for a gripping element so that the trough-shaped depression assumes a further function, i.e. that of a receiving area for a gripping element, e.g. for the base of a shaft with which the sweeping machine can be moved.
In this case, it can be provided that a gripping element is disposed to swivel on the upper side of the housing and in an end position extends into the receiving depression and into the adjoining trough-shaped depression as well as the half shell inserted therein. The base portion of a rod-type gripping element, for example, can thus be accommodated on the upper side of the sweeping machine to save space when the sweeping machine is not in operation and must be stowed.
It is provided in a preferred embodiment that an elastic catch is provided to fix the drawer on the housing.
The elastic catch can preferably be disposed on the base of the half shell and engages behind a recess on the trough-shaped depression.
In a particularly preferred embodiment it is provided in that case that the elastic catch is formed by a region of the base of the half shell, which is separated from the rest of the half shell by two U-shaped incisions and only remains connected to the base of the half shell via two deformable webs located between the ends of the opposing incisions. Such an elastic catch is very simple to mould out of the base of the half shell by provision of the two U-shaped incisions, the narrow remaining webs are deformable in accordance with the selected material of the half shell, e.g. an elastic plastic material, to such an extent that the remaining base section may be swivelled slightly in relation to the rest of the base of the half shell.
It is beneficial in this case if at a distance below the half shell the trough-shaped depression forms a stop restricting the swivelling movement of the elastic catch, thus ensuring that the elastic catch is not deformed too much during the opening movement and damaged as a result.
In addition, it can be provided that spring elements are disposed between the housing and drawer which act on the drawer in its pull-out direction. As a result, upon release of the elastic catch, the drawer is necessarily pushed out of the locking position so that further locking is only possible when the drawer is intentionally pushed into the housing. This ensures that a brief application of pressure on the elastic catch is sufficient during release of the drawer and that then the drawer remains unlocked and can be pulled out of the housing without problem.
It is beneficial in this case if the spring elements are at the same time intermeshing guide elements.
In a preferred embodiment, moreover, it can be provided that the drawer has a grip depression on its underside opposite the half shell. As a result of this, the drawer is provided in the same manner with a depression on the upper side and on the underside so that the user can grip and operate the drawer using these two depressions in a particularly advantageous manner.
The following description of preferred embodiments of the invention is for more detailed explanation in association with the drawings.